Couple's train campaign

Helen and Richard Nielsen-Eckfield are determined to see a train platform built at the fairgrounds. (Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune)

Helen and Richard Nielsen-Eckfield are determined to see a train platform built at the fairgrounds. (Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune)

A Coaster train made its way past the Del Mar Fairgrounds. SANDAG is considering a proposal for a new rail access plan for the Del Mar Fairgrounds. (Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune)

A Coaster train made its way past the Del Mar Fairgrounds. SANDAG is considering a proposal for a new rail access plan for the Del Mar Fairgrounds. (Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune)

Regional transportation planners want to add a second set of train tracks in the area near the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Regional transportation planners want to add a second set of train tracks in the area near the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Helen and Richard Nielsen-Eckfield, a retired couple from Carlsbad, aren't into hot-tubbing, lawn bowling or leisurely games of golf.

They're more about the full-court press. For three years now, they have doggedly pressed for the resurrection of a seasonal train stop at the seaside Del Mar Fairgrounds.

No one seems to have a problem with the proposal: Sounds sort of romantic. Would reduce freeway traffic. Would be great come fair time and horse-racing season.

But actually making it happen is a different story. That's where the couple come in, offering a fresh reminder that citizen activists can still make headway in an age when government officials are used to saying no.

“We have a passion,” said Richard Nielsen-Eckfield, 68. “We don't think it's inevitable that nothing can be changed.”

The Nielsen-Eckfields recently persuaded the San Diego Association of Governments, the regional planning agency, to accelerate its study of a train platform on the west side of the fairgrounds.

They even helped talk the agency into seeking federal stimulus money for the estimated $6 million stop, though recent steps by the state have forced the agency to shelve the request.

“They've made a big difference,” said Linda Culp, a lead planner with SANDAG. “They've been very successful at getting this on a lot of people's radars.”

It helps that they know the language of government bureaucrats. Richard Nielsen-Eckfield worked on the front lines of government for decades, including management stints at several city halls across the nation and as an urban housing administrator in Washington, D.C.

What others might find daunting, the couple see as invigorating.

That includes rallying the right people around the idea of a train platform. Over several decades starting in the 1930s, trains stopped at the fairgrounds during horse-racing season.

It made sense then, the couple say. It makes even more sense today, given concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion and the price of gasoline.

“Penny for penny, gallon for gallon, it would be a heck of a lot more efficient,” Richard Nielsen-Eckfield said.

During racing season each summer, the Nielsen-Eckfields work as paid ushers at the track, witnessing the congestion firsthand.

The station would operate during high-traffic seasonal events, using existing track. The nearest train stop to the fairgrounds today is in Solana Beach.

To sell the idea, the couple recently spent a week in Sacramento, on their own dime, meeting with lawmakers and transportation officials. They regularly buttonhole San Diego-area officials, transit operators and anyone else who might help the cause.

They say they've spent at least $15,000 in the past three years on lobbying trips and related costs.

Richard Nielsen-Eckfield laughs. “If I told you how much we really spent, then you'd think we're really nuts,” he said.

Many of the people they meet with nod in agreement over the proposal but say there's no money to build a platform. Even if there were, some explain, the stop couldn't be built until other rail improvements are made near the fairgrounds.

Regional transportation planners want to add a second set of tracks in the area and replace an old trestle bridge nearby, at a cost of about $88 million.

Fairgrounds spokeswoman Linda Zweig said that everyone likes the train stop idea but that the rail improvements are connected and need to be done at the same time.

Pointing to their extensive study of the issue, the Nielsen-Eckfields sharply disagree, saying the platform and other work could be constructed in phases.

They've even presented a detailed phasing plan to SANDAG.

At the couple's behest, the regional agency is looking at funding and development options for the platform and the other improvements. SANDAG's transportation committee is expected to consider the issue this fall.

The couple say the agency first should build a 600-foot train platform and double-track the existing railway between the fairgrounds and nearby Solana Beach.

At the couple's urging, SANDAG and county officials also have raised the idea of having horse-racing organizers pay for the platform.

The regional association is exploring other funding sources for the rail improvements, including state bond money and future federal stimulus funds.

The Nielsen-Eckfields apply the same level of energy to other causes. Last year, they spearheaded a local campaign to persuade drivers to slow down to save gas.

“It's fun to try to make a difference,” said Helen Nielsen-Eckfield, who is in her early 60s.

They point out that they are not just citizen lobbyists. She likes to read, knit, garden, weave and work with gourds. He is an expert at scrimshaw, a form of etching in bone developed by 19th-century whalers.

They do those things when they're not pressing ahead on their mission, knocking on doors, gently twisting arms, making their case for the seasonal rail stop.

Said Helen Nielsen-Eckfield, “That's a great way to spend your retirement years, don't you think?”